Many passenger seats such as those on passenger aircraft, buses, trains, and the like are arranged so that each passenger seat, other than the forward-most located passenger seats, faces the back of the next forward passenger seat. To increase a passenger's comfort, many passenger seat backs rotate between upright and reclined positions.
In some instances, a tray table may be mounted adjacent the back of each passenger seat for use by a passenger in the next aft passenger seat. The tray table is deployed by the passenger to provide a relatively flat surface for eating, working, recreation, or other uses.
Because the next forward passenger seat back may recline while the tray table is in use, tray tables are typically mounted to a pivot shaft outside the contour of the passenger seat back so that use of the tray table is not disturbed by the reclining motion of the passenger seat back. By coupling the tray table to the pivot shaft outside the passenger seat back, as shown in FIG. 8, the conventional location of the tray table encroaches on the space available to the passenger when the tray table is stowed.
In certain situations, it may be desirable to reduce the space occupied by the tray table when the tray table is stowed, while still providing a coupling location that allows the passenger seat back to recline without disturbing the use of the tray table.